As she grew older, Jemma could not walk or play as normal children would. “I want my daughter to lead a normal life, she’s an amazing little person and I will not let her life be changed by her disability,” said Tamara.

Doctors suggested several options to try to help the little girl, but her parents made the heart-wrenching decision and opted to have Jemma’s leg amputated above the knee.

“We were given options to extend her leg with screws, metals, and rods, but we decided that if she had it amputated she could live a better life without countless surgeries,” said Kelly.

She was just 9 months old when they performed the surgery. Before her first birthday, she was fitted with a prosthesis, and with the encouragement of her parents, she was able to move freely and start to do the things other toddlers take for granted.

Her new prosthetic has a knee joint, which allows Jemma much more flexibility.

“She does cheerleading, plays tee-ball, rides a bike, bounces on trampolines—if you covered her prosthetic leg you’d never know the difference between her and any other child… Now she can bend down to grab things like in tee-ball and so she’s just getting used to being able to kneel rather than throw her leg out,” said Tamara.